It is not uncommon for dog owners to get alarmed upon seeing traces of blood in their dog's urine. They often rush their dogs to the vet fearing the worse. More often than not, however, the cause may be minor. Making use of the better safe than sorry approach, is always a savvy way to go, even because the quicker treatment is started the quicker the recovery time.

Blood in the urine often may appear of a pinkish tint because it mixes within the urine altering its color. When the blood appears bright red (frank blood) it is usually not mixed in the urine but rather coming from the vaginal or rectal area. It is important therefore for owners to be able to detect if the blood is diluted in the urine, mixed within, or simply coming from the dog's behind, regardless of urinating.

Following are the most common (and not so common) causes of blood in the urine in dogs.

Causes of Blood in Dog Urine

• Urinary Tract Infections

Affected dogs exhibit blood in the urine often accompanied by other key symptoms such as frequent urination, painful urination, straining, licking genitals and fever. The condition can be easily treated with a course of antibiotics.

• Bladder stones

Bladder stones also known as uroliths, are not uncommon in dogs. The two most common types of bladder stones found in dogs are: struvite stones and calcium oxalate stones. Dogs will bladder stones will develop painful urination, straining and bloody urine. Treatment mainly consists of dietary changes and in the case of large stones, surgical removal.

• Prostate Infections

Prostrate infections occur only in intact male dogs. Symptoms suggesting prostate infection in dogs consist of: bloody urine, enlarged prostrate, difficult and painful urination, straining, lack of appetite and fever.

• Estrus Cycle

While it may be obvious that an intact female dog will bleed during their heat cycle, there are novice dog owners that may not be aware of this occurrence. A dog will go in heat around six months of age and will produce some vaginal bleeding and vaginal swelling during their first week. Then the bleeding will halt after approximately 7-10 days and will be replaced by a straw colored fluid. This is generally when the dog is ready to mate.

• Uterine Infections (Pyometra)

Uterine Infections occur only in intact female dogs. Often owners confuse pyometra with the dog's heat cycle, but are often surprised that a second heat has occurred only a few weeks after the last heat. This however, is typical of pyometra, presenting often between 4 to 8 weeks after the last heat.

When the pyometra is open female dogs will develop a foul, mucous, bloody vaginal discharge often resembling tomato soup. In this case, dogs are often given antibiotics to clear up the infections, fluids to hydrate them and often they uterus is removed.

• Tick Born diseases

These annoying and disgusting creatures are known to cause various tick borne diseases that may cause bloody urine among other symptoms.

• Poisons

The most common poison that causes bloody discharges is rodent poison. Dogs that ingest rat poisons containing Warfarin will develop blood clotting disorders and bloody urine may be a symptom.

There can be other various causes of bloody urine in dogs. Among these are trauma to the bladder and some forms of cancer involving the urinary or reproductive system.

Dogs exhibiting blood in the urine should always be seen by a veterinarian. In order to help a veterinarian come to a diagnosis quickly, a urine sample may be helpful. A small teaspoon size will generally suffix and the urine should be collected in a sterile container, possibly dated with the pet's name and the time it was collected.Urine samples should be very fresh, not older than 4 hours long. It is best to refrigerate the sample.